Bad News Travels
- Автор: Суэйн Джеймс
- Серия: Lancaster & Daniels #3
- Год: 2020
- Язык: английский
- Год: Thomas & Mercer
- ISBN: 978-1-5420-1644-5
- Жанр: Триллеры
Электронная книга - «Bad News Travels». Краткое содержание книги:
No sooner do they arrive than suspicions are aroused. There’s the pair of Russians who seem to be watching every move the family makes. A final, cryptic phone call Martin Daniels made to his granddaughter. Strange blood evidence on his estate. More than $1 million missing from Martin’s account. And his cell phone, wiped clean, along with clues to a double life. To Beth, it’s disturbingly clear: the man she loved was a stranger.
As she and Jon delve into Martin’s past, they have no idea where the secrets will take them. Or how dangerous it will be to expose the conspiracies, the cover-ups, and the terrible truths of Martin’s life — and death.
“I should have listened to the guy checking in before me,” he said.
“Come again?”
“He had three pieces of luggage. He told the ticket agent that he wanted the blue suitcase to go to Houston, the black suitcase to go to Chicago, and the green suitcase to go to Los Angeles. The ticket agent said, ‘We can’t do that, sir.’ And the guy said, ‘You did it the last time I flew this crummy airline.’”
Carrie slapped the counter. “That’s a good one. I’ll have to remember that.”
He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Would you by chance have a couple of toothbrushes and some toothpaste we can borrow?”
“I’m sure I can rustle them up.”
“Thank you. You’ve very kind.”
Carrie opened a drawer filled with room keys. While she searched for the key to their suite, he glanced at the reflection in the window behind her. Beneath the counter was a video monitor hidden from the customers’ view. The monitor was a matrix, and had four black-and-white screens. Based upon a quick glance, the screens appeared to rotate between cameras outside the property, and some inside as well. She fished out the right key and shut the drawer. Lifting her hand to her mouth, she called out, “Hey, Dalton, I’m going upstairs to show these folks their room. I need you to cover for me.”
There was no response. Carrie whipped out a cell phone and made a call. “It would take hell and high water to tear that boy away from his video games,” she said. Into the phone, she said, “It’s me. I need you to man the desk.” She made a face. “I don’t care how many points you’re about to score. Get the hell out here.”
She disconnected and shook her head. “I don’t know what’s worse. His pot smoking or those damn video games.”
“Your son?” he asked.
“The one and only.”
Dalton appeared. Lancaster was expecting a skinny teenager with bad skin, not a hulking thirtysomething in a sleeveless T-shirt. Dalton’s eyes, which were mud brown, scanned his guests as if they were standing in a police lineup.
“Where’s their luggage?” he asked suspiciously.
“The airline lost it,” his mother said. “I’ll be right back.”
The stairs leading to the third floor were carpeted and groaned beneath their weight. On the second floor landing they stopped to let Carrie catch her breath.
“Damn job’s going to kill me,” she lamented.
The journey to the third floor was also a struggle, and again she had to stop.
“I should never have stopped running,” she said.
“Why did you?” Beth asked.
“Because the ice cubes kept flying out of my drink.”
She shrieked with laughter. It was an old joke, but Lancaster laughed along anyway. She went to the door at the hallway’s end and jammed the key into the lock.
A quick tour of the honeymoon suite followed. The room looked the same as it had on Martin’s laptop, right down to the bedspread. Carrie avoided mentioning the water stains in the ceiling, or the musty smell. Finished, she presented him with the key.
“I’m sure you folks would enjoy a little privacy,” she said. “Come downstairs later, and I’ll rustle up toothpaste and brushes for you.”
“Much appreciated,” he said.
She left, and he chained the door and found the remote. Powering up the TV, he found a twenty-four-hour news network, and jacked the volume up. Then he parked himself on the edge of the bed. The mattress sagged as Beth sat beside him.
“I spotted a video monitor beneath the counter when she was checking us in,” he said in a low voice.
“You think they’re spying on us?” Beth asked.
“I don’t know, but I think we need to assume that they are. I think we should stay here for a few minutes, and act like lovebirds. Then I’ll go downstairs and distract them while you search the room for hidden cameras. Sound like a plan?”
“I’m in. I don’t like the looks of her son. He’s a mean one.”
“I’ll take care of him if he acts up.”
“You enjoy dealing with guys like that, don’t you?”
He smiled and nodded. He’d been picked on as a kid, and had a chip on his shoulder when it came to dealing with brutes and bullies.
“Thank you for being here for me,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me until we’re done. Then we’ll party.”
She placed her hand against his chin, and kissed him on the lips. It caught him by surprise, and he raised his eyebrows in question.
“Just acting like lovebirds,” she said.
Chapter 34
They smooched like a couple of high school kids on a hot date. Jon wasn’t much to look at, but he was a great kisser, and it let Daniels forget things for a little while. When they came up for air, he said, “I’d like to rip your clothes off.”
“What’s stopping you?” she asked.
“I’d hate to later see it on video after these people get arrested.”
“Fair enough. How about a rain check?”
“Now you’re talking. I’m going downstairs to engage Carrie and her son,” Jon said. “Don’t start looking for the hidden camera until I text you.”
She heard the whistle, and knew something was worrying him.
“Dalton bothers you, doesn’t he?” she said.
“He was suspicious of us from the start. I think he knows we’re the law.”
“But how? We’re not dressed like cops.”
“Do you know how many guys in Florida have done time? Over a million. Some get reformed, but most don’t. One of the things they learn in the joint is how to avoid getting caught the next time they break the law. That includes how to spot a cop.”
“Then maybe we should leave. I’ll call the Jacksonville office for backup, and we can come back tomorrow, and bust them.”
“If we leave now, Dalton will know for sure that we’re the law. That will give him time to destroy any incriminating evidence on his hard drive. I vote we stay.”
Jon was never one to run from a fight. He wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on as much as she did, and she gave him another soulful kiss. It caught him by surprise, and he blushed.
“Just in case they’re watching,” she explained.
As Lancaster came downstairs, he spied an older couple checking in. He knew they were from up north because they were dressed in jeans and long-sleeve shirts, and looked uncomfortably warm. By tomorrow they’d be wearing Bermuda shorts and T-shirts, and showing a lot of milky-white skin.
He stepped aside as they dragged their suitcases up the stairs.
“Nice place?” the husband asked.
“So far,” he said.
He approached the front desk. Carrie was typing the couple’s credit card information into a computer and paid him no attention; there was no sign of Dalton.
“I’ll be right with you,” she said.
He drummed his fingers on the desk. By staring in the reflection in the window behind her, he was able to see the video monitor hidden below. The matrix of surveillance cameras followed the couple as they entered a room on the second floor.
“All done. So you must be looking for those toothbrushes.” She removed a pair of cheap toothbrushes and a tiny tube of Crest from a drawer, and handed them to him. “Let me know if there’s anything else you need.”
“Actually, I could use a little help,” he said. “I got lost looking for the Ravine Gardens State Park earlier today. I kept following the Saint John’s River, but ended up lost. We’d like to go there tomorrow, and check it out. Can you help?”
“That’s because the Saint John’s flows north,” she said. “It’s one of a handful of rivers in the country that does that. Bet you didn’t know that.”